Gifts for your engineering school friend gift guide

If you’re wondering what to get that friend in the School of Engineering and Applied Science always gushing about machinery or updating you on the latest scientific discoveries, we have you covered. From digital notebooks to funky décor, these gifts are sure to bring out the science geek in anyone.

Evernote notebooks – ranging from $11.95 to $37.50

The Evernote Notebook by Moleskine will save your favorite SEAS student from constantly hauling huge binders full of notes, diagrams and graphs all over campus. A great resource for for students who like to work on their laptops and smartphones, the notebooks make it easier to create a digitized version of handwritten notes and complex diagrams. Unlike regular notebooks, the Evernote notebook comes with either ruled and graph pages that are designed specifically for Evernote’s Page Camera feature. The feature, which is available for iOS and Android devices, allows you to use smartphones and tablets to digitally capture what’s written on the notebook’s pages. Once captured, these images are uploaded to an Evernote account that users can access on their computers at any time.

Available at: Moleskine, 3209 M St. NW

Plasma Balls – ranging from $18 to $25

If you step into your friend’s residence hall room and notice it’s a little too dim to light up the periodic element table poster on a wall, then a plasma ball may be just what your friend needs to complete the space. Beautiful and fun, plasma balls were all the rage in the 1980s. They may look like simple glass globes but when plugged into an electric socket, they light up with colorful bolts of lightning. The Plasma Ball isn’t just a pretty source of light: Placing objects with conductive properties – including your fingers – on its glass surface makes the ball light up.

Available at: National Air and Space Museum, 600 Independence Ave. SW

Brain Dust by Moon Juice – $20 – $65

If your friend is agonizing over a physics final or is pulling all-nighters to finish a big hydraulics project, they likely need some help managing the stress and exhaustion. Moon Juice’s Brain Dust supplement makes even the hardest homework a bit more manageable by helping ease stress and boost concentration. Brain Dust is an edible powdered formula made with organic and natural ingredients. It helps enhance concentration and manage stress by providing nourishment to neurotransmitters in brain tissue. We can’t confirm that Brain Dust actually makes you focus, but it is a fun gift that will be a hit at late-night study sessions.